How to Cook Soup

Many do not understand that cooking soup is actually an art, which needs to be mastered. It is not only about throwing in the ingredients. Do you wonder, what makes the difference between a tasty soup and a watery tasteless soup? It is the soup stock, which is used. The stock can either be non-vegetarian or vegetarian depending on your preference. You do not have to get the stock from the market, as it can easily be made at home. If you make it at home, the stock will not have any preservatives making your soup very tasty. Before we actually learn the method to cook soup, I guess it is important to know, how to make a soup base, which can be used with any soup of your choice.

How to Make Soup Base
The soup base is nothing but the stock required to make the soup. One of the ingredients is chicken feet. If you are a vegetarian, then you can skip the chicken and increase the quantity of potatoes and add other vegetables of your choice.

Ingredients

• Chicken Feet 1 pound
• Onion (sliced finely) 1
• Potatoes (peeled and sliced finely) 2
• Carrot (peeled and sliced finely) 3
• Celery (chopped) 2 tablespoons
• Red Dates (optional) ¼ cup

Method

• Clean and wash the chicken and place it in the crockpot.
• Add onion, potatoes, carrots and celery to it.
• If you want to lend a sweet taste to your soup, you can de-seed the dates and add them as well.
• Fill the pot with water, turn it on high and let the soup boil for about an hour and a half on high.
• Then turn the heat on to medium to medium-low and let the soup base boil for another 4 to 5 hours, so that all the flavors are extracted out of the veggies and bones.
• Use a colander and use the liquid, which is the soup base.

How to Cook Soup in a Crock Pot
A number of people vouch by the fact, that cooking a soup in a crock pot is the best way to cook soup. No doubt it takes longer, but it also does taste much better, but you will not have to pay too much attention, when the soup is cooking. Having said that, let's see the steps to cook soup in a slow cooker.

Ingredients

• Ham Bone with Ham 1
• Mixed Beans 2 cups
• Garlic (minced) 1 clove
• Lemon Juice 1 tablespoon
• Honey 1 tablespoon
• Bay Leaf 1
• Onion (chopped) 1
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

• Wash the beans and ham bone and place it in a slow cooker.
• Add all the remaining ingredients and let the contents cook on high for 1 ½ to 2 hours.
• Then turn down the heat to low, so that the soup simmers and it cooks all day long.
• Early evening remove the bone and you may need to add some more water.
• If you want to thicken the soup, mash the beans.
• Just before you are going to serve the soup remove the bay leaf.

How to Cook Soup in Microwave
Cooking soup in the microwave does not take as long as expected. Whenever, you want to have some soup for dinner, but you do not have the time to cook it, you can make use of this method of making soup. This is a French onion soup recipe.

Ingredients

• Onions (sliced) 5
• Butter ¼ cup
• Chicken Broth 10 oz
• Beef Broth 10 oz
• Mozzarella Cheese (shredded) 8 oz
• Parmesan Cheese ¼ cup
• Toasted French Bread

Method

• Combine onion and butter in a microwave safe casserole, cover it and microwave on high for about 8 minutes, till the onions are translucent.
• Then add chicken broth and beef broth to the onions. Add sufficient quantity of water to bring it to 1 quart.
• Cover the mixture and let it microwave for 5 minutes.
• Top the soup with sliced bread and cheese and microwave the soup till the cheese melts.

For more information, read

• Recipe for Vegetable Soup
• Mushroom Soup Recipe
• Healthy Soup Recipes
• Easy Chicken Soup Recipes

You now know the steps to cook soup. I will recommend, you make the soup base and then add the extra ingredients, so make the flavor specific soup. I always make the soup base for a week and freeze it, to use it whenever I am hungry or when I do not have the time to cook an elaborate meal.